Coach Stefano Pioli confirms that Zlatan Ibrahimovic has suffered an injury and will not be available for the upcoming match against Empoli.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic will not be on the pitch tomorrow for Empoli-Milan. Coach Stefano Pioli made the announcement a few minutes ago at the press conference. The AC Milan striker has an overload in his knee and for this reason the staff has decided not to risk and give Ibrahimovic a rest.
In this way ends the year for the Swedish giant. Olivier Giroud is expected to lead the attack in his place despite just returning from an injury himself. The fact that Zlatan could not play ninety minutes in every match was obvious but Pioli was forced to play him practically every two days due to the many injuries of the Rossoneri forwards.
As mentioned above, it will be up to Olivier Giroud to replace Ibrahimovic. However, the situation is still complicated because the Frenchman has only been training with the rest of the team for just a few days. Against Napoli he entered in the second half but didn’t make much of a contribution.
It is therefore necessary to understand if Giroud can really start from the first minute. It is unlikely that he will be able to play the entire match but tomorrow he will be the only available striker at Pioli’s disposal. Like Ibrahimovic, he will be forced to work overtime for the last match of 2021.
Krunic’s hypothesis as a “false nine” is unlikely. Pioli doesn’t have the luxury to make experiments in a very important match like the one against Empoli tomorrow. The good news is that the injury of Ibrahimovic is not serious and Zlatan should be fully recovered after the Christmas break.
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